testimonie whether it be of God yea or no for this calling of the scripture carnal and a dead letter is not like the testimony of the spirit of God which cals it spiritual and I rather beleeve that the Law is spiritual and James Naylor carnal then the Law carnal and he spiritual Now can I think that James Naylor was ever quickned and received the spirit by the hearing of faith preached nor by the operation of the word and spirit joyntly together as other beleevers for then he would never cal it but a dead letter and carnal c. if he had ever received spiritual life from it but he would love and own it above all other words and also acknowledg that he hath received light and comfort from it But he saith in his Answers to Baxter that the scripture holds out but one light and Word which I say is not true and therefore first I shal make it appear from Scripture that it houldeth out more light then one and then I shal prove my former assertions that there is more words of God then one held forth in scripture and so properly called in scripture which the Quakers cal blasphemy but the blasphemy is theirs And first for Lights Christ himself saith who is the essential Light and as it were the the original Luminary of all inferior or lesser Lights in his Sermon upon the Mount Ye are the light of the world speaking to his Disciples and let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven see Matt 5.14 and 16. And again John was a burning and a shining light and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light see Joh 5.35 And David saith The entrance of thy words giveth light it giveth understanding unto the simple Ps 119.130 So that here is clearly more lights then one and these held forth in scripture though all proceeding from that one fountain and see also 2 Pet 1.19 We have saith the Apostle a more sure word of Prophesie whereunto ye do wel that yee take heed as unto a light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day starre arise in your hearts But I suppose James Nailor wil not acknowledg that he ever received any light from that sure word of Prophecie as from a ligh shining in a dark place but only some little brain knowledge of the bare letter Else he would not so reproach and disparage those that do take heed to the sure word of prophesie til they be enlightned thereby in what they were dark and did not understand For he intimateth so much as though he never needed any scripture light but had all immediatly and that by voice or immediate inspiration or both from the spirit of God all which if it were true yet it would become him better not to despise others that have it mediatly and it may be at the second third fourth hand especially some things that are hard to be understood with men that are dul of hearing as some of the Saints were to whom the Apostle writes see Heb 5.11 And lest I should seem to mistake his intimations he plainly expresseth himself in his Book against Thomas Moore pag 43.9 10 11 line where he saith I witness against thee who have received the word from his own mouth and immediate calling And that he accounteth their Ministry litteral who know not what it is to inquire at the mouth of the Lord. These are his words speaking to Thomas Moore to wit he saith he had reckoned up the names of many of the Saints of God which makes little for thy purpose who were all men that were taught in spirit and need not to run unto a Book to seek their knowledg but had the word of the Lord from Gods own mouth and there was the oracle whereat they enquired which thou wouldest make to be the letter who never knew what it was to enquire at his mouth whose Ministry is litteral see pag 28. line 16 to 24. Now these are his words and I shal not deny but even in these daies there is such men as may truly say with the Apostle to wit And trulie our fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonn Jesus Christ. But not all in a like measure the gifts and graces of God and the measures of them are various as the Lord said unto Aaron and Miriam Numb 12.6 7 8. to wit Hear now my words If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known unto him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream My servant Moses is not so who is faithfull in all mine house with him will I speak mouth to mouth even apparently and not in dark speeches and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold wherefore then were ye not afraid to speake against my servant Moses From whence it appears there is different dispensations even amongst the Prophets of the Lord some have more apparent acquaintance and familiarity with God and those are such who are faithfull in all Gods house And some have a more dark and hidden acquaintance with and knowledge of God as it pleaseth him to communicate unto them in different measures and degrees according as they are different in measures and degrees of faithfulnesse Now Moses was faithful in all Gods house but so were not Aaron and Miriam nor the rest of the Ptophets then living though yet they were faithful in a good degree and were true Prophets of the Lord. Now I never read that Moses spake any thing at all to the disparagement of those that were inferior unto him in acquaintance with God though they spake against him as though he had assumed to much honour Say they Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses Hath he not spoken also by us And the Lord heard it and the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and he departed See verse 2. to 16. And the Lord himselfe vindicated Moses and was wroth with them but Moses being a meek man in stead of being angry prayed for Miriam that the Lord would heal her immediately but it could not be granted till after seven dayes so that the Lord himselfe was more severe then Moses whom she had spoken against But I find little of this meeknesse in James Naylor who accounteth himself the highest and all below him either Dwarfes or nothing like unto Christians insomuch as if they have need of a book either the Bible or any other they are despised by him as literal men in his book against Moore But Paul advised otherwise even to give attendance to reading and to exhortation and doctrine and not onely to a light within and biddeth not onely to bring his Cloake but the Books and especially the parchments In all likelihood then he himselfe made use of books and parchments Nay Christ himselfe disdained not to use a book or to read thereon
were knowne in the Christian world by giving heed unto seducing spirits and doctrines of Devills speaking lyes through hypocrisie having their consciences seared as with an hott Iron By which it is evident that it is the last dayes In which saith the Apostle perilous times should come c. noting them out unto us by almost twenty Epithets which are all of them verified in the Papists and the Quakers for what one commeth short in the other compleateth And wee may still expect that evill men and doctrines shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived see 2 Tim 3. Chap And that there shall come false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signes and wonders so that if it were possible they should deceive even the very Elect Mat 24.23 24 25 26 27 28. Admonition These things considered wee ought to be seriously admonished and perswaded hereby to take heede unto our selves that wee be not deceived by these seducing spirits these false Christs and false Prophets Behold saith our Saviour I have told you before Wherefore if they shall say unto you behold he is in the desert goe not forth behold he is in the secret chambers beleeve it not For as the lightning c. I say therefore if the Quakers tell us loe here is Christ or loe there nay if they shall prevaile so farre as the Lord knoweth how farre hee will suffer them as it may be to shew great signes and wonders yet let not us be deceived Behold hee hath told us before that wee might be forewarned and forearmed So that wee are inexcusable if wee be deceived And therefore that wee might not be deceived with these seducing spirits and doctrines of Devills Let us take admonition from the Spirit of God and not thinke our selves so steadfast and immoveable as that wee may not be deluded for even the Elect themselves may be so farre lead away with the errour of the wicked as to fall from their owne proper steadfastnesse though not totally nor finally see 2 Pet 3.17 18. And first then let us take heed least these seducing spirits provoke and stirre us up to a dislike of and enmitie against the Ministers of God for this is the first step that leadeth them to delusion but let us love and honour them as Embassadours of Christ and let this love be without dissimulation not in word and tongue onely meerely complementall but indeed and in truth and let it be exprest upon all occasions especially who ever it be that teacheth us and that administreth unto us spirituall things let us see and take care that they doe not want of our carnall things For according as wee sowe liberally or sparingly in these respects the same shall we reape from the hand of God Let not the Quabers deceive us in these respects God is not mocked And let us not account it as a matter of indifferency for it is our dutie and therefore it is called communicating To doe good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifice God is well pleased and let him that is taught in the Word communicate to him that teacheth in all good things Now communicating is distinguishable from distribution or giving to the poore because of the poore wee receive nothing in recompence but from the Lord onely neither doe wee expect it Whereas in case of communicating wee receive one good thing for another yea and that many times more valuable than all the carnall things that we can communicate So that we ought not to account it as a worke of charitie but as a worke of pietie and dutie unto God for the Ministers are his substitutes or Receivers And therefore wee ought as the Apostle Injoyned Every first day of the weeke to put apart by it selfe as the Lord hath increased us and give it in to the Churches treasurie that there need be no trouble in gathering of it and that to be disposed to the Ministrie and to the poore as may be thought most needfull and convenient by faithfull men I have heard of an English Lawyer of late yeares who was so conscientious of his dutie to God in this respect that he put apart every tenth shilling that he got with his practise and disposed of it for pious and charitable uses as hee found occasion and hee so increased that he grew very rich and honourable and so lived and dyed in great esteeme And I doubt will rise up in Judgement to the condemnation of many carnall and worldly professors that make no conscience of their duty unto God and their faithfull Ministers nor to the poore neither in these respects And I much feare that the people of God themselves are much blame-worthy and neglective of their duty in these respects And that it tendeth greatly to the hinderance of the Gospell and the disparagement of their profession besides their owne detriment which is very great as I could largely instance but this is a subject deserves a whole Treatise Onely this Item I desire wee might remember that if the Scripture be true hee that in these respects soweth sparingly doth and must receive but sparingly if he be a Christian and that both spiritualls and temporalls from the hand of God and hee that soweth liberally doth and shall and may certainly expect to reape aboundantly from the hand of God both for this life and the life to come The which is easie to confirme from many testimonies in sacred Scripture besides many examples that might be produced from experience amongst us to wit of many professors of great estates going to decay that are provident enough for things of this life if not too covetous And the reason is because the Lord doth not blesse them in what they goe about but bloweth upon their designes and labours and estates And it is but just and according to his Word For professors ought to be as lights to the world and so to let their light shine that they might see their good workes and glorifie their father which is in heaven and as they excell in other graces so they ought to excell in this grace also And to exemplifie true Christianitie and obedience and subjection to the Gospell of Christ in every duty both to God and men that so they might also be blessed of God and increased accordingly that so they may witnesse the truth and veritie of his promises and blessings pronounced in Scripture in such a case And for further satisfaction that it is a duty which God requires at our hands Consider with mee these Scriptures and Reasons and promises also 1. If wee must communicate to those that teach us in the Word in all good things Conseq That there is no exemption of any good thing wherewith the Lord hath blessed and increased us Rea For all is a generall word and includes every good thing Instance According to that Text Serve the Lord with all thine heart and with the first-fruits of all thine increase So shall
and that in publick which was the old Testament But James Naylor saith he may read all his life the Letter of the Scriptures and therewith come amongst the Parish Ministers and never discern the voyce of Christ See page 45. in his book against Moore To the which I answer It is true that such who are none of the sheep of Christ may indeed read the Scriptures and heare them read and preached all their lives and yet never know the voyce of Christ in them so as to follow him but they will rather follow strangers instance James Naylor But such who are his sheep they know his voyce and will follow him and not the stranger yea by what means soever he speaketh unto them mediatly or immediatly and they account the Scripture as the word of God himselfe as if he should speak unto them by an audible voyce and they know them to be written for their learning that they through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope And it is no disparagement to the Scripture the Letter as he calls it that some despise it and regard it not but undervalue it and let it slip Nor to the words of Christ himselfe and his Apostles nor to his Ministers now because many people did not profit by them nor do not know them in regard they are not mixed with faith in such as heare them For it is they that are of God they hear Gods word and they that are Christs sheep know his voyce and obey and follow him But some therefore heare them not because they are not of God and some obey not his voyce because they are none of his sheep John 10 and Chap. 8.47 But Naylor often produceth the non-proficiencie of the people as a ground of disparagement to the Ministers of the word yea and to the word it self the Letter I mean the which I shall prove to be the word of God And first that there is not onely one but many words of God and so called in Scripture it is plain to any rational Christian that knoweth the Scriptures 1. Psalm 12.6 The words of the Lord are pure words like silver tried in a Furnace of earth purified seven times 1 Arg. Now the words of the Lord are words of God 2 Arg. And words in the plural number must needs include more then one Conclus Therefore there is as certainly as that the Scripture is true more words of God then one spoken of in Scripture 2. Prov. v 30.5 Every word of God is pure he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him Now this word Every includeth more then either one or two words and that of God 3. 1 Thess 2.13 where the Apostle saith Because when yee received the word of God which ye heard of us yee received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God From whence it is clear that the word which they heard of the Apostles was in truth the word of God Even that audible word which they heard of the Apostles yea heard them speak 4. 1 Tim. 5.17 Especially them that labour in the Word and Doctrine 5. 2 Tim. 2.9 But the word of God is not bound 6. Heb. 6.5 And have tasted of the good word of God 7. Jam. 1.18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth 8. And verse 21. And receive with meeknesse the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls And verse 22. And be yee doers of the word and not hearers onely deceiving your own souls Quest Can any of these be meant of Christ How improper had it been to have said Be ye Doers of Christ in stead of Be ye doers of the word 9. See Deut. 8.3 But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Obser Observe how improper it had been to have said Every Christ that proceedeth out of the mouth of God 10. Psa 68.11 The Lord gave the word great was the company of those that published it Observe It it is not said him but It. 11. Isai 2.3 For out of Zyon shall go forth the Law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem 12. Jer. 6.10 The word of the Lord is unto them a reproach they have no delight in it 13. Amos 8.11 12. A famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 14. Matth. 13.23 He that receiveth seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it And Luke 8.11 12. 15. The seed is the word of God Those by the way side are they that heard then cometh the Devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved Could the Devil take Christ out of their hearts after once received how absurd were it 16. John 5.24 He that heareth my word and beleeveth on him that sent me hath everlasting life 17. Acts 4.31 And they spake the word of God boldly 18. Acts 6.2 It is not meet that we should leave the word of God and serve the tables And verse 7. And the word of God increased and the number of the Disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly Quest. Had it been proper to have said That Christ increased 19. Acts 8.14 15 16. Samaria had received the word of God and yet the holy Ghost was not come down upon any of them Conseq So they had received the Word but not the Spirit and so not Christ by James Naylors account if there be no more but Christ 20. Act 12.24 But the word of God grew and multiplied Did Christ grow and multiply See also chap. 13.44 and verse 46 48 49. And chap. 15.35 36. And chap. 19.20 2 Cor. 4.2 Ephes 6.17 All which are clearly meant of the teaching and preaching of the word of God and of the growth thereof Assertion 2. to wit That what ever God hath spoken is his word or words The which I prove thus it is written Exod 20.1 And God spake all these words saying Conseq Therefore when God speaketh his expressions are called words or a word See Psalm 68.11 The Lord gave the word great was the Company of those that published it Arg. But if what God speaketh is his word or words Conseq Then it must necessarily follow that all Scripture is the word of God and the particular words of it are words of God and altogether they are his word See Heb. 1.2 God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto our Fathers in times past by the Prophets hath in these last times spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed Heir of all things by whom also he made the worâ—ds See also Chap. 12.25 See that yee refuse not him that speaketh Also Luke 1.69 As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began Observe he spake it by the mouth of his holy Prophets and of his Apostles and af his Son Therefore all such speakings and expressions are the words and
thy barnes be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst with new wine Prov. 3.9 And that in Ezekiel 44.28 29 30. to wit And it shall be unto them for an inheritance I am their inheritance and yee shall give them no possession in Israell I am their possession They shall eate the meate-offering and the sinne-offering and every dedicate thing in Israell shall be theirs And the first of all the first-fruits of all things and every oblation of all and every sort of your oblations shall be the Priests yee shall also give unto the Priest the first of all your dough that hee may cause the blessing to rest in thine house Object But it will be objected that these are all but Judaicall Ceremonies to which Christ put an end and that these meate-offerings and sinne-offerings and trespasse-offerings and dedicate things and all these oblations of every sort are nothing now that concerne either us or the Ministers of the Gospell And therefore it is improper to make these things exemplary for our direction Answer I shall easily grant that all these Ceremonies and externall sacrifices and oblations are ceased and not to be observed nor practised by us in the Jewish forme But I cannot grant but that they are something to us in the times of the Gospell Else the Apostle was deceived when he brought that Instance 1 Cor 9.13 to wit Doe yee not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the Temple and they which waite at the Altar are partakers with the Altar From which hee concludes that Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospell should live of the Gospell And therefore these Scriptures doe concerne us and there is morall Instruction and direction in them though not so much as some would gather Reas For first wee must not onely serve the Lord with all our hearts but with the first fruits of all our increase That is to say wee must be readie to distribute and to communicate as we have occasion and are called of God as need requires and that in all good things Wee should thinke nothing too good or too deare or too much to communicate to our teachers or give to the poore For the Lord accounteth it is given to himselfe or lent to himselfe as so hee did but then assigning over as it were his owne portion which hee expecteth from us by way of gratitude for his blessing of us and as hee hath increased us to be given to the Ministers as then to the Priests For hee that giveth but to them so much as a cup of cold water because they are Christs Ministers or Christs Disciples or because they belong to Christ shall in no wise loose his reward And some shall be condemned at the last day as not giving it to Christ because they did not give it to the least of those little ones that beleeve in him 2 Rea And secondly they must doe it and doe it liberally if they will expect to reape liberally to the Ministers of the Gospell as then to the Priests and for the same reasons namely That they may cause the blessing to rest in their houses And that they may reape liberally that their barnes may be filled with plentie and their presses burst with new wine yea that hee may powre them forth a blessing that there shall not be roome to receive it And that the very loynes of the poore may blesse them For wee are but deceived if wee sow sparingly and yet expect to reape liberally from the hand of God For God is not mocked but hee that soweth sparingly shall reape sparingly And if we take not his word but put it to the tryall wee shall finde our selves mocked and deceived in it And how absurd a thing is it that God hath given us his word and wee dare not take it nor doe accordingly but thinke all woone and as it were treasured up that is spared this way And so that others doe it wee thinke it will serve as if wee did it our selves But it will be found when our accounts are cast up that wee utterly loose and that manifolds what wee spare this way Quest But it will be demanded to wit If it be so that God requireth of us That are taught in the word to make them that teach pertakers with us in all good things Then what part of that with which the Lord increaseth us must wee Communicate Answ I answer that if I should sett a stint under Gospell-dispensations I should make bolder than the Apostle did or had a minde to doe But I shall gather some resolves that are clearely deducible from Scripture-grounds yea from the Law of God which is the Law of Love and so passe it over 1. And first the Apostle saith Let every man administer according to the measure of his faith And as every man wisheth in his heart so let him give From which I conclude That if men have not faith so as they can trust in God that hee will not faile them in case they give liberally that they shall certainly receive a reward suitable according to his promise but are in feare to want themselves Then yet hee hereby requireth that they doe communicate and that they doe distribute yea though they doe it but sparingly 2. And secondly As there is no bounds for liberalitie in any case so it be freely and in faith so I dare not set bounds in this respect concerning the Ministrie But whether a tenth part or a ninth or the eight or the halfe or all of that wherewith God hath increased us Rea For God is able to make all grace to abound so that wee shall certainly reape as liberally from the hand of God if wee part with all wee have be it what it can more or lesse according to his promise The widows mite was all her living and shee was commended for it And they are likewise Commended in the primitive Church in that such as had lands sould them and laid them downe at the Apostles seete and they were distributed as every one had need Resolve But this I resolve that to give lesse then a tenth of that wherewith God hath increased us in any lawfull way in case when need requireth for supplying of the Ministrie and of the poore the Churches poore especially and that occasion calls us to part with it for any such ends as may properly be called giving unto God or lending to the Lord or Communicating c. I say lesse then a tenth is too sparing 1 Rea For it is lesse than Abraham gave to Melchisedecke before the Law was given And lesse than Jacob vowed And lesse than God required and called for as his due for the donation of the land of Canaan to the Israelites 2 Rea And for us in times of the Gospell to be more sparing under such large and bountifull and free dispensations Is a most shamefull unfaithfull and ungratefull part And will
not be well accepted if wee justifie our selves in such poore degrees and measures of love both to God and men 3. For hee requireth fruit suitable to his tillage as is easie to prove the moralitie of such duties from the nature of love as it may be I shall the Lord assisting mee 4. But without all controversie in such cases as abovesaid to give more then a tenth yea if need require to sell all that wee have and give it to the poore or if called to it even to lay downe our lives for the brethren which is the most of all yet it is nothing too much under Gospell-dispensations for it was never so plainely and properly required of the Jewish Nation for it is commanded even by Christ and by his holy Apostles And suitable promises both of treasure in heaven and a supply on earth both to us and ours that wee shall not want nor have lacke of any thing As in the primitive times it was really exemplified They trusted God and obeyed his word and even made all things common and his promise was made good so that there was none that lacked And this in all likelihood will be so againe when the hearts of the fathers are turned to the children and the hearts of the children unto their fathers Which is as much to say as when the Spirit of God in the Ministrie of his Word taketh a kindly Impression in the hearts of his people so as to naturalize them to himselfe and the Ministers and people one to another so as to make them one as God is one yea like the primitive Church Of one heart and of one minde For then they proove and exemplifie the naturallnesse of the Law For then onely and not till then nor but onely with such who are so joyned can it ever be expected nor will it ever be suitable to have all things common nor could it else be expected that none should lacke and be neglected And without all question wee ought to be one as God is one as Christ hath prayed for us and as it may therefore certainly be expected for all his prayers were effectuall And therefore wee ought to endeavour after this unitie in the spirit which is the bond of all true peace and amitie And so often as wee pray that the kingdome of God might come with power that is to say that the Spirit of God might Rule in our hearts so often we pray that the kingdome of God might come so with power to all his people and that wee might be one as God is one and that wee might be one in him see John 17.21 ver 22 23. Nay if it cannot be denyed but that not onely our goods but even our lives and all should be readie at hand to be offred up in behalfe of our brethren and for the glory of God in witnesse to his truth if wee are called too it And if the love of Christ and the love of the brethren should be so ardent in us as to make us willing even to part with our lives in such a case How much rather should it easily induce us to part with our goods and that not onely a tenth but all that we have For as the Apostle John affirmeth Hereby perceive wee the love of God because hee hath laid downe his life for us And wee ought to lay downe our lives for the brethren But whoso hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowells of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him My little children let us not love in word nor in tongue onely but in deed and in truth Even so I also conclude this infallible resolve from the same ground Resolve That whoever hee be that hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowells of compassion from him There is no signe of the love of God in that man But much more when they shutt their bowells from supplying the wants of their faithfull Ministers who teach them in the Word who come unto them in the name of the Lord and bring them glad tydings good newes a rich treasure precious promises blessings from on high Christs owne Embassage representing his person delivering his message and blessing them also in the name of God and the Lord Jesus Christ yea in the name of the most high God possessor of heaven and earth Surely I say it and that without all peradventure that neither the love of God nor the love of Christ nor the love of the brethren nor of his faithfull Embassadors dwelleth in that man Rea For if a man loveth not his brother whom hee hath seene how can hee love God whom hee hath not seene yea the Invisible God whom never man saw neither can see but onely in spirit through an eye of faith save onely in man who is his Image when once perfectly renewed And whom wee ought to love and respect and honour accordingly as wee see his Image repaired in him yea though never so poore and despisable in the world and in the worlds account And therefore to make it cleare that these dutyes of Communication and distribution are morall duties required in the morall Law of God and that they are not Ceremoniall abrogable Lawes but must abide till all be fullfilled Take these further grounds 1. They were not onely Commanded in Horeb but by Christ himselfe and by his holy Apostles see 1 John 3.23 This is his Commandement that wee should beleeve on the name of his Sonne Jesus Christ and love one another as hee gave us Commandement Now the measure of that love which Christ hath Commanded is not a little and so away but the measure is Even as Christ hath loved us But without all controversie if the measure must be so as Christ hath loved us Then it will ingage us if occasion require even to lay downe our lives for the brethren But if it will ingage us to lay downe our lives Then much more our estates as hath been said not onely some but all if need so require for the glory of God and the good of the brethren and for the furtherance of the Gospell Resolve And therefore there needeth no stinting as in the time of the Law to a tenth part For where they are taught of God to love one another with that measure as they ought it will naturally ingage them so as they cannot be satisfied with giving a tenth nor any part at all if need so require but they will part with all and their lives to boote for the name of Christ and rather than any should lacke that belongs to him And though a tenth was sufficient in the time of the Law yet I cannot finde in all the new Testament any ground at all to build our faith That a tenth is sufficient in the dayes of the Gospell nor any stint at all under all that wee have if wee finde it needfull for the
lyars and by what spirit they are acted and therefore their testimony will not serve to excuse our consciences before God 2. And secondly let them not perswade us to desert the Ordinances of God For unlesse wee could thinke that the Quakers are wiser then the Lord himselfe that appointed them wee have no ground nor reason to beleeve them God never appointed any Ordinances in vaine but they are profitable if in the use thereof wee waite for him and for his blessing upon them for the good of our soules hee never failes them that waite for him And therefore if wee doe not finde them so spirituall and so efficacious to us for the present as wee doe expect let us rather blame the hardnesse of our owne hearts than the Ordinances of God or the Ministers of them or much more then the holy Scriptures which are a spirituall word and if they doe not seeme so to us it is doubtlesse because that wee are yet carnall And to presse us on to a full Resolution so to doe let us call to minde that Parable concerning Dives and Lazarus Especially the saying of Abraham unto Dives to wit They have Moses and the Prophets let them heare them see Luke 16.29 And note this If they heare not Moses and the Poophets neither will they be perswaded though one should rise from the dead see vers 31. For doubtlesse if the Ministers of God and of his holy Word and Ordinances which the wisdome of God hath thought fitt and appointed to save them that beleeve Be not effectuall to the perswading of us and saving of our soules It is without all question because wee are not ordained to eternall life As it was said in the Acts that as many as were ordained to eternall life beleeved Acts 13.48 It behooveth us therefore to waite on the Lord in the use of all his Ordinances and not to thinke our selves wiser then hee least he giveth us up unto strong delusions and to beleeve a lye and so proove our selves fooles as so it is but just if wee thinke our selves wiser then hee 3. And thirdly let us above all things take heed that wee be not provoked by these delusive doctrines of the Quakers to reproach or speake evill either of the Ministers or the Ordinances of God or of the holy Scriptures It is without question a very haynous sinne in the sight of God so much as but to thinke evill of them But it is an high degree of blasphemie to speake evill of them in the least degree Now speaking evill of them is when we speake any thing tending in the least to the disparagement of them to cause them to be undervalued and disesteemed as carnall and vaine and uselesse or unprofitable c. And especially for the Ministers of God to call them Priests of Baal and hirelings and Wolves in sheepes cloathing and covetous and such like Epithets as the Quakers give in generall unto all that are not of their way Which can be accounted no lesse than speaking evill of him that sent them But least the Quakers should deceive us and make us beleeve they are such indeed Consider with mee first who they are and by what spirit they are guided and acted that speake so of them As for that I shall onely desire your serious consideration of this little Treatise and the Contents thereof whether it be not fully prooved that they are acted by a lying and malicious spirit to speake evill of the things they know not and of many hundredths and thousands of Ministers and faithfull Christians which they never saw nor heard of in their lives either good or evill and yet they damne them all as eternally lost and for the pitt of hell And let us not thinke it strange that Satan should threaten damnation to the Elect of God for what in him lyeth hee seeketh to destroy their faith above all other graces because when our faith faileth wee beginne to sinke and to decay in love and all other graces and so are laid open to his wiles and stratagems And therefore when wee heare the Quakers call men damned and carnall which they never saw before nor it may be never at all wee may well imagine whose spirit is in them for Satan would gladly perswade any man living on the face of the earth save onely his deluded instruments that hee hath assured to him already That there is no hope of salvation for such as them at all nor for any but such as are really acted and guided by him And therefore knowing who they are that speake evill of them wee have the more cause and ground to thinke well of them and to love and honour them But it will be needfull to answer some Objections whereby they delude so many unstable soules to wit 1. First it may be objected because it is true and well knowne that some Ministers are carnall and worldly minded and covetous and therefore to maintaine such is a sinne 1. I answer first that because of some wee must not condemne all 2. Secondly wee ought not to be uncharitable in judgeing or censuring any Now it is beyond the Rule of charitie to judge or censure further then wee certainly know and it is a great signe of malignitie against all if wee be so apt to censure any further then wee know 3. Thirdly wee ought not to judge according to appearance but righteous Judgement For wee may see failings and humane frailties in the best as so there was also in the most of the Prophets and Apostles and holy men of God that wee reade of in Scripture And therefore if we doe not finde them in a way of wickednesse let us take heed of censuring them least wee condemne the generation of Gods children as David had like to have done And therefore if wee doe not finde in them any way of wickednesse and know it for certaine let us judge and hope the best and forbeare censuring 2 Object Secondly it will be objected that though wee cannot clearely condemne them for any way of wickednesse yet if wee know them not certainly to be godly and faithfull Ministers such as are sent of God how can wee so freel communicare unto them as is required of us and as wee ought in case when wee know them such Answ I answer that if wee be godly and faithfull our selves wee shall doubtlesse know them by their fruits whether they be such or no for so Christ hath promised Yee shall know them by their fruits But in case wee are are not able to judge and resolve our selves whether they be so or no Then let us communicate freely and liberally unto them in regard they are in place as such appointed to be our Teachers through the providence of God and are the best wee have And above all things Beware of covetousnesse in this respect for if that sway us it will make every little fault an excuse to hinder us from communication And therefore let us
who value their carnall worldly things above God and Christ and the furtherance of the Gospell and things of an eternall nature Nay how can or dare they blesse such covetous men whom the Lord abhorres which is onely proper to wicked men I say it is onely proper for wicked men to blesse the covetous whom the Lord abhorres see Psal 10.3 And what greater signe of covetousnesse can be exhibited then the neglect of this duty And the love of money is the roote of all evill therefore how shall any man expect any good branches or sprouts from it I am very confident and not without many good grounds from Scripture which I can easily shew that this sinne of covetousnesse doth and may raigne in professors of Religion and they not discover it in themselves but may expect salvation through Jesus Christ till they depart this life and yet be eternally damned see onely for this Mat 25.41 to the end where their sentence is pronounced against them altogether for their neglect of duty even to the least of those little ones that beleeve in Christ and is really accounted as a neglect of duty to him to wit I was hungry and yee gave mee no meate c. The place is well knowne I wish it were as well laid to heart by all that professe Christianitie There would not so many goe blindfold to hell One would thinke it sufficient to know these things before-hand to warne all men as the Apostle doth to beware of covetousnesse as the most dangerous roote of sinne that can be least growing in the heart of man And the rather because it hath so many cloakes and covers both to hide it selfe from our owne eyes and the eyes of others As frugalitie good husbandry providing for our families the examples of other men that are well accounted of for Christianitie and the expectation of others that are nearer in relation for doing such works as are required of us and the faults discernable or suspected to be in the objects of our charitie or beneficence or because wee have not enough for our selves but that wee may come to want it for our selves or ours or wee are not yet sufficiently rich in lands or goods our neast is not throughly feathered for our selves and ours our ambition is not satisfied and such like many which are easily produced they are so common and every one hath them ready upon all occasions to hinder them from doing good the answering whereof would make my booke swell to a great volume But this I say briefly that if any of these or any other beare sway in us to hinder us in the least from our duties this way it is a great signe that covetousnesse raignes in us for the present and that so continuing it will bring us to hell one would thinke it enough to know that the Lord abhorres us if wee be covetous to make us to abhorre our selves and repent in dust and ashes for the least token of it to be found in us For whom the Lord abhorres wee ought to abhorre likewise wee ought to hate covetousnesse where ever wee see it in our selves or others And where wee see it raigne in any man wee ought to abhorre such a man as odious and abominable yea as a base spirited and ignoble person such as is not worthy of any Christian fellowship or communion The Apostle hath enumerated covetous persons amongst such as are so scandalous as that they are not to be compared together with if they be of such as are called brethren see 1 Cor 5.11 And so doe I likewise if they appeare to be such but these many cloakes doe so hide and cover them both from themselves and others as Judas was hid from the Disciples under specious pretences and covers to his utter destruction That they are not easily found out but goe for Saints of God and without so much as being suspected And were it not for swelling my booke over great it were easie to discover this odious sinne and such in whom it raignes and to make them appeare odious by convincing arguments and that from Scripture-grounds such as no man can deny But it would require a prettie volume I must not be so large in this Treatise but shall leave the further prosecution thereof till another opportunitie A paralell list of some of the manifest contradictions betwixt the teachings of the Spirit of God and of that spirit by which the Quakers are guided spirited and acted to wit 1. Their spirit teacheth them that there is no light but one spoken of in Scripture and that this light is within in every mans conscience and so they must turne their minds inward to looke for light and obey that measure of light they finde there for it is sufficient to leade them into all truth and to guide them in all the wayes of God and is an infallible guide so that if they obey that light within they cannot eire nor commit any sinne and that if they have but the least measure of the Spirit of God it is sufficient so that they need not to search the Scriptures for attaining to the knowledge of God and of Christ nor the teachings of men for they have that within them which will teach them sufficiently And all have this light they say yea every one that commeth into the world and this light is Christ the eternall light But the Spirit of God teacheth us That there are more lights than one though all from that eternall light For saith Christ As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world John 9.5 And saith he Yee are the light of the world speaking to his Disciples Mat. 5.14 15 16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes c. And John was a burning and a shining light Now these inferiour lights are not lighted to be put under a bushell but on a Candlesticke that they may give light to the whole house to wit the whole Church they were lighted from that eternall light for that purpose and not to be covered Nor shall their light held forth in Scripture be covered from the true Church but they doe and shall give heed thereto as to a light shining in a darke place Nay though Satan himselfe be transformed into an Angell of light They shall not beleeve every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God seeing many false Prophets are gone forth into the world And by their fruits they shall know them and finde them to be Theeves and Robbers and shall detect them by the light of God held forth in Scripture which is a sure word of Prophesie containing many sure examples and patternes and commands which are and shall be as a lanterne to their feete and a light unto all their pathes And therefore they will give attendance unto reading and to exhortation and to doctrine and they will teach them to their children and to their childrens
children for so they are commanded by the Spirit of God in the holy Scriptures And to take heed to the Law and Testimonie whereby they will try the spirits whether they be of God for if they doe not speake according to these it is because there is no light in them but the spirit of darknesse that Ruleth in the children of disobedience as is more at large in the booke 2. Secondly their spirit teacheth them to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God and to call them carnall and a dead letter But the Spirit of God teacheth us that every word of God is pure and that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and that the words which Christ hath spoken to us are spirit and life to them that beleeve them and receive them in love 3. Their spirit teacheth them to speake evill of all men that embrace not their lying doctrines and wayes But the Spirit of God teacheth us to speake evill of no man but to honour all men and as much as in us lyeth to have peace with all men 4. Their spirit teacheth them to Revile and disparage the Ministers of God and to blame and Revile those that heare them and maintaine them But the Spirit of God teacheth us to love and honour them and to communicate freely and liberally for their maintenance that they may have lacke of nothing nor need to labour and intangle them with the affaires of this life they being ingaged in a spirituall warfare against princiyalities and powers and spirituall wickednesse c. For if it be true that God hath so ordained that they that preach the Gospell should live of the Gospell Then it also followeth that such Churches or people whomsoever that doe not so ordaine and take care or doe not so communicate to those that teach them as that they may live of the Gospell and have lacke of nothing for themselves or theirs but doe inforce them to labour with their owne hands and to intangle themselves with the affaires of this life They are not obedient to the Gospell of Christ nor followers of God as his deare children neither doe they walke in love as Christ hath loved us nay they are so farre unlike Christians as that they are worse then Infidells for if it were an unjust thing and a worke of crueltie to mussle the mouth of an Oxe that treadeth out the corne How much more cruell will it one day appeare to mussle the mouth of a Minister and Messenger of God that Ruleth well and laboureth in the Word and Doctrine Are they not more in value in the sight of God then many sparrowes yea then many Oxen Doubtlesse they are so in the sight of God and ought to be so in the sight of Christians But how much pressing will this point need before it be effectuall so as to naturalize Christians like Christians indeed I have much more in a Manuscript that I writ long since concerning this point which when the Lord seeth good may likewise be held forth But 5. Their spirit teacheth and ingageth them also and that upon paine of eternall damnation not to use the word You but thou or thee to a single person But the Spirit of God never gave us any such charge nor are wee so limited by any Rule in Scripture but quite the contrary For wee are commanded to give custome to whom custome is due feare to whom feare honour to whom honour Now it is the Custome of all true Christians in our English Nation to use this word You when they direct their speech either to man or woman especially if they be their superiours or if but their equalls and that in meere civilitie as it is accounted fitt And is seldome otherwise amongst civill men that have any breeding or humanitie in them and are not brutishly Irrationall and besotted in their minds save onely in case when men are transported with passion as sometimes civill men may in case when provoked by some injurie or incivilitie offred them and when they shew their displeasure or it may be are ready to fight they beginne to thou each other and to Revile and reproach and miscall one another just as the spirit of the Quakers also acteth them but never at any time whiles they are in love and friendship and sobrietie And that is the reason as I suppose why the spirit in the Quakers will not allow them to give us any civill language because hee cannot love us nor indure to be at peace with us but must needs shew his wrath and malice against us it is so implacable and bitterly seated and habituated in him for there was enmitie put betwixt the seede of the woman and the seede of the Serpent even from the beginning And therefore it is that if the Quakers should love us and give us civill language hee could not indure to have any fellowship with them nor would hee owne and spirit and act them as hee now doth if they did not obey him in acting so malitiously and opprobriously against the people of God and against all Gods Ordinances yea against the Scripture it selfe and so by consequence against the Spirit of God which gave it forth But it is wonderfull to mee how hee ever wrought them up to such a height of exorbitancies in all these things For it cannot be but meere civilitie and rationalitie and their wonted customes of civilitie ingaged them to be shie and unwilling at the first to use them it being so Improper a language and carriage for children to thou their Parents servants their Masters subjects their Majestrates and inferiours their superiours of all sorts and Relations and bringeth them into such a snare as that they are made uncapable of living amongst and conversing with men or occupying any trade merchandize especially and chiefly with strangers who cannot but thinke them either to be naturall fooles or distracted persons or some angerie uncivill malicious men which will make them afraid to have any trading or dealing with them And the truth is this their grosse incivilitie doth much hinder their growth and multiplying And without all question Satan would give them a full dispensation in many of these things if it were not so that hee is forced through his malice onely to act with and in such men as are really mal gniz'd against the people of God and are first really ingaged to him in voluntary obedience in something or other that he well knoweth will worke a separation from the children of light else hee could not exspect to keepe them in darknesse But to keepe them in darknesse hee first perswadeth them that it is their duty to God to observe the language held forth in Scripture and the examples of Christ and his Apostles and upon paine of damnation not to varie from it Now it is true that thee and thou were commonly used in Scripture-language But for ought wee know not because the word you had been a sinne for